In GQ’s latest issue, a 2009 recap, I spotted a familiar gadget heading up the ‘Best Stuff of the Year’ section: the Harinezumi camera produced by Superheadz. I remember the rep coming in to give us an initial demo of this fits-in-your-hand digital camera. At the time, I didn’t really grasp the appeal. So, it’s a video camera that shoots without sound? And it’s a digital camera that forces you to use the little plastic viewfinder to take a shot instead of a real-time display screen?

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bRcGpz7Oy0 540]

I get it now. It’s an intentional throwback – as we slowly begin losing the old and familiar, like Polaroid and Super 8 film, it’s important to recreate these experiences with the new tools we have at hand. And the Harinezumi does an impressive job in that department. It’s a comforting experience to take a picture in the old way, combined with the ease of digital.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DILc-h0OvUk&feature=related 540]

And the video  does hearken back to the days when Super 8 was more readily available and, as a result, the whole world looked a little hazier, fuzzier, warmer and more romantic. Just see the video above – part of a great series on Youtube taken entirely with the Harinezumi.